Gear4 BluEye review

Waiting for an iPhone? Gear4 has an alternative

Our Verdict

Quite possibly the best iPod accessory we've ever seen. It really is that good

For

Answer calls by remote control

Automatically pauses & re-starts music

Voice-activated dialling

Controls music playback

Great Sound Quality , FM Radio

Do you own a new-ish iPod? Does your mobile phone boast Bluetooth connectivity? If the answer to both of these questions is yes', you have to buy a BluEye. It's as simple as that.

This innovative device almost makes the whole debate about a future Apple iPhone redundant. Using the combination of a dock connector and wireless Bluetooth technology, it combines your iPod and phone in a really useful way.

Whenever you receive a call, the BluEye will automatically pause your music, display the caller's number on the iPod's screen, and let you answer with the touch of a button. Indeed, you could even argue that it's more effective than an iPhone, as you can use the handy in-line remote, rather than having to fish anything out of your pocket.

Making calls is just as efficient. You can either use voice-activated dialling, if your phone supports this function, or scroll through your last nine numbers and call them back. Either way, the BluEye acts as a hands-free kit, providing a crystal-clear microphone in the remote, and routing the other person's voice into your headphones.

Amazingly, that's not all that this compact gadget can do. The remote control will also control the playback of your songs and videos, so you need never worry about accessing your iPod. Even better, it contains an FM radio tuner, with 15 station presets, and a surprisingly strong signal.

So, that's everything that Gear4 mentions on the box. However, it appears that the BluEye is better than even its manufacturer knows, as it has a couple of other nifty tricks up its sleeves. For starters, it will actually increase the volume of your iPod's output, effectively over-riding Apple's maximum setting.

Parents may be concerned about the potential effect on their children's hearing, but for the rest of us, this is great news, as you may actually be able to hear your music on a plane. Secondly, even though Gear4 warns us that it will only work with iPods with colour screens, we tried it with a monochrome fourth-gen iPod, and it functioned perfectly.

However, without doubt the best thing about the BluEye is that, like all good Mac products, it just works. Setting up the Bluetooth phone connection is simplicity itself, and all the features function exactly as you would expect them to. We experimented with keeping our phone in a backpack, and we were able to make and receive calls just as if we had it in our hands. It even looks like it was designed by Apple, as it's modelled on the Radio Remote.

There's no reason to dislike the BluEye. We'd like to see the caller's name displayed next to the number, but this is a tiny gripe. Who needs an iPhone?